Thieves in Japan steal £8.9m from cash machines in just three hours
The forged credit cards used in the fraud belonged to a South African bank
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.In a co-ordinated operation, a criminal network stole 1.4bn Yen (£8.9m) from cash machines across Japan in a three hour period.
Authorities believe over 100 thieves used forged credit cards from South Africa to steal money from 1,400 convenience store ATMs, The Guardian reported.
In each of the 14,000 withdrawals, the maximum amount of 100,000 Yen (£631) was taken in Tokyo and 16 other Japanese prefectures.
Japanese police, through Interpol, have asked South African authorities how the 1,600 credit cards were obtained.
The name of the South African bank where the cards originated from has not been named.
Police say the geographical distance between the bank an the targeted ATMs allows for a delay before the scam is discovered.
According to the Japanese newspaper, Yomiuri Shimbun, the fraudulent withdrawals took place between 5am (JST) and 8am on May 15.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments